California breezes past energy milestone

Thursday April 7th 2011 Alpine CA USA- Cars and trucks move westward along Interstate 8 as wind turbines spin near the Golden Acorn Casino ahead of a wind advisory for the mountain passes in the east county. Photo by David Brooks / Union-Tribune MANDATORY PHOTO CREDIT: DAVID BROOKS/UNION-TRIBUNE/Zuma PRESS

Thursday April 7th 2011 Alpine CA USA- Cars and trucks move westward along Interstate 8 as wind turbines spin near the Golden Acorn Casino ahead of a wind advisory for the mountain passes in the east county. Photo by David Brooks / Union-Tribune MANDATORY PHOTO CREDIT: DAVID BROOKS/UNION-TRIBUNE/Zuma PRESS

Wind energy production in California has passed the four-gigawatt threshold, the state's main grid operator announced on Monday.

Turbines across much of the state exceeded the four-gigawatt mark on Friday, and again on Sunday, according to the California Independent System Operator.

Wind energy fluctuates with the weather, but Sunday's record capacity mark of 4.2 gigawatts is similar to what California's two nuclear plants can churn out at full power -- or enough to momentarily supply over 2.5 million homes.

The system operator, which oversees the high voltage network for 80 percent of the state, said not all of the region's turbines were producing power at the time of the record because of routine outages. The region's wind plants are equipped with 5.9 gigawatts of capacity in theory, although they are not expected to reach that mark in actual production.

California is the second largest producer of wind power in the United States behind Texas, according to the system operator. Electric retailers in California are pushing to meet a state requirement for 33 percent renewable power, derived from renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and geothermal, by 2020.